Iranian film director Abbas Kiarostami cancels visit to London due to embassy visa ordeal

The film director Abbas Kiarostami yesterday accused the British embassy in Tehran of subjecting him to "disgraceful" treatment causing him to drop an arranged visit to London to direct Cosi fan tutte for English National Opera this month.

In a stinging rebuke, the Iranian said the process of securing a visa, in which he was twice asked to give fingerprints, left him feeling "trapped in the very circles of hell itself". "It would be tempting to brand [the actions of the embassy] Kafkaesque, yet to do so would be to imbue them with rather too much intelligence," he added.

Kiarostami, 68, is one of Iran's new wave directors of the 1960s, and won the Palme d'Or at Cannes for Taste of Cherry in 1997. He was to direct a production of the Mozart opera which he created and premiered at the Aix-en-Provence festival last year. He was also to attend the opening of an exhibition of his photographs at a London gallery.

"I want to be absolutely clear that my decision was based solely on the disgraceful treatment to which I was subjected.

"I travel regularly to France and Italy and am no stranger to the bureaucratic dances we Iranians need to perform to obtain visas. However, the actions of the embassy were of a wholly different order."

His paperwork was deemed correct, and he gave fingerprints, he said. "A visa was duly granted," he said. "A few hours later it was withdrawn and I was asked to resubmit my application. I did so immediately and was asked for a second set of prints. When I pointed out my prints were unlikely to have changed … I was told this method had been used to catch over 5,000 criminals worldwide." He decided to withdraw.

Kiarostami's assistant, Elaine Tyler-Hall, who worked with him in Aix-en-Provence, will direct the opera at the London Coliseum instead. ENO said Kiarostami had told it the ambassador had tried to intervene, but by that stage he was not prepared to pursue the matter.

It is understood embassy officials called Kiarostami back when it became apparent he needed a different visa because of his work. The Foreign Office said it could not comment on individual cases.

A UK Border Agency spokesman said: "Fingerprint visas mean we can check everyone against immigration and crime databases. These checks are a crucial part of securing the border and not something we will apologise for – they have already detected at least 5,000 false identities.

"We demand the utmost integrity and professionalism from our staff, and are determined that the UK continues to stay open and attractive to visitors. That is why we have taken many steps to ensure that everyone – including foreign artists who make an important contribution to the UK – know about our tough rules, which include having a licensed sponsor."

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